Kevin Smith

Ever since his emergence onto the national stage, writer-director Kevin Smith became the idol of aspiring filmmakers everywhere when his independent feature "Clerks" (1994) - made for a startlingly lo...
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Airport novel racks across the globe are standing at half mast this week. Tom Clancy, the king of the American spy thriller, sadly passed away on Tuesday. But even after his death, his legacy in film lives on in movies like the newest Chris Pine actioner Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
In the new trailer, Pine takes over the role of Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst working undercover for a sleazy billionaire with an even sleazier European accent (Kenneth Branagh, also the film's director). When Jack discovers a terrorist plot that threatens to dismantle the world's economy, he is forced out of his cozy office and must become a full-fledged field agent under the guidance of his handler (Kevin Costner). Keira Knightley also stars as Jack’s wife who finds herself pulled inexplicably into the depths of covert intrigue.
Paramount Pictures
The trailer is buzzing with tons of frenetic action and a lot of slick spy machinations. I’m expecting at least four double-crosses and at least three characters to reveal themselves to be double agents by the time the credits roll.
More:Kevin Costner to Star in 'Midnight Delivery'Kevin Costner to Assemble Clancy Characters 'Avengers' StyleChris Pine is Being Cast in Everything
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As we start to fill-up up our Netflix queues with classic horror flicks in preparation for Halloween, we realize the greatest villains of the genre still hold power over our adolescent selves. We still can't say Candyman in the mirror and clowns will always be scary, but what about the average joes who play the leading men in our nightmares? Sometimes it helps to disassociate and think of Freddie Krueger waiting in line at the DMV. Spurred by the recent release of Gunnar Hansen's (a.k.a Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre) memoir titled Chain Saw Confidential, we decided to "pull off the mask" of our favorite villains of horror.
Leatherface — Gunnar Hansen
Valerie Macon/Getty Images
We skipped a lot of early morning classes in college, but perhaps we would've be scared straight if Leatherface was our English professor. The actor turned professor quit the biz to teach freshman English at University of Texas. Can you imagine the strapping six-foot three Hansen discussing the thematic resonance of Don Quixote? While Hansen spends most of his days in a small coastal town in Maine, he recently ventured back into acting, playing bit cameos in such classics as Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Texas Chainsaw 3D.
Jason Vorhees — Ari Lehman
Joey Foley/Getty Images
Ari Lehman looks like a mix of street magician and the sexy sax man — the stuff nightmares of made of. He also holds the distinct honor of playing the first Jason Vorhees in the original Friday the 13th. As it turns out, creeping out generations of children is not his only talent, as he is accomplished jazz musician and studied classical music and jazz piano at both Berklee School of Music and NYU. His passion for pounding the keys led him to tour with prominent reggae and African music groups and eventually led to him starting his own band — "First Jason," whose sound "hits you over the head with an anvil being swung at 1000 miles an hour by the metal gods."
Michael Myers — Tony Moran
Albert L. Ortega/Wireimage
After slashing his way through a couple of teenagers as Michael Meyers in Halloween, Tony Moran found himself making mincemeat out of high mortgage rates as an actor-turned broker. He shared his passion for acting with his actress sibling, Erin Moran of Happy Days, and did a number of guest appearances in The Waltons and CHIPS and then quit at age 30. Turns out, Michael Myers had such emotional depth it required three actors to play him, including Nick Castle and Tommy Lee Wallace. Since Moran wasn't anxious to wear the Michael mask again, his footage from the first film was used again in the sequel.
Freddy Krueger — Robert Englund
WENN
Robert Englund is the Kevin Bacon of horror villains. The man has literally worked with everyone in the business and has an IMDB credit list longer than our tax return. Before he donned the striped crewneck and switchblade gloves, he was briefly considered to play the part of Han Solo in Star Wars and even had Mark Hamill bumming on his couch. After playing bit parts on various shows and a recurring role on V, he took on the role of Freddy for three consecutive films and continues to work steadily today.
Chucky — Brad Dourif
WENN
It takes a Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee to truly capture the demonic essence of a possessed doll. Character actor Brad Dourif has worked with some of the directing greats over the course of his career. He got his big break on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, worked with David Lynch in Dune and Blue Velvet, played a slimy villain in the Lord of The Rings trilogy and appeared in several Werner Herzog films. Like Hansen, Dourif also dabbled in teaching, leading acting and directing classes at Columbia University before becoming the voice of Chucky in all of the Child's Play films. Which leads us to wonder if there's a connection between playing psychopathic villains and academia.
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Universal Pictures
There was once a time when Chevy Chase was Hollywood's king of comedy films and his magnum opus was no doubt 1985's Fletch. Directed by the late Michael Ritchie (Diggstown), Chase is at the top of his game in this murder mystery that simply does not get old. Chase embodied the new sarcastic smart-ass comedy style of the '80s. Based on the Gregory McDonald book series, the film about a usually-disguised, Lakers-loving LA investigative reporter was a box office hit pulling in a tidy sum of just under $50 million. Some twenty-eight years later, the film holds up with any comedy Hollywood has spewed out in almost three decades.
Fletch set the bar for a generation now all grown up that uses sarcasm as much as their smart phones. Remakes and reboots of the franchise have stalled for years and if ever there is a time for a new comic everyman, it is right now. The closest we came was when King Fanboy director Kevin Smith was ready to resuscitate the series with actor Jason Lee in the lead. However the project never took off, leaving us without a new wisecracking LA reporter that changes his disguises more than his underwear.
We deserve a new Fletch flick, especially in our reboot happy Hollywood that resurrects just about every property they can get their hands on. Furthermore after this tepid summer movie season, God knows we could use a laugh. By the way I wrote this on the laptop I bought with Mr. Underhill's American Express card. Want the number?
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Have you ever thought to yourself, "Why is Hollywood not making more superhero movies?" Well, I'm here to tell you that you're not alone. Here are five caped crusaders that have been wrongfully deprived of their own billion-dollar movie franchise.
Saturday Night Live
The Ambiguously Gay DuoIt worked as a comedy bit on SNL, and if anyone has the industry pull to make it happen, it's Lorne Michaels. Plus, when you take into account that Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert voiced the characters Gary and Ace, respectively, well then, turning The Ambiguously Gay Duo into a movie is clearly a no-brainer.
Bluntman and ChronicLet's face it, Kevin Smith's career has been in the toilet ever since he decided to pick a fight with Harvey Weinstein over the marketing of Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I mean did anyone even see Cop Out? He really needs this.
AquamanIf Entourage has taught us anything, it's that the superhero-deprived public is bursting at the seams to make Aquaman the highest grossing movie in the history of the universe. Look out caped crusaders, there's a new hero in town – and this one's wearing fins!
Fall Out BoyHe may have already been the inspiration for a pretty horrible rock band from the mid-2000s, but The Simpsons character has all the makings of a classic superhero. He's young, bookish, and is known to utter the memorable catchphrase, "Jiminy Jillickers!" Plus, I hear that Matt Groening could really use the extra scratch.
FartmanNow that he's a judge on America's Got Talent, Howard Stern is once again relevant. So what better way for the King of All Media to build on his recent surge in popularity then by once again donning the Fartman costume? Throw Howie Mandel in as his gassy sidekick, Fartboy, and you've got yourself a winner!
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After Dark Films
It seems a bit odd to take on a movie review of Courtney Solomon's Getaway, as only in the loosest terms is Getaway actually a movie. We begin without questions — other than a vague and frustrating "What the hell is going on?" — and end without answers, watching Ethan Hawke drive his car into things (and people) for the hour and a half in between. We learn very little along the way, probed to engage in the mystery of the journey. But we don't, because there's no reason to.
There's not a single reason to wonder about any of the things that happen to Hawke's former racecar driver/reformed criminal — forced to carry out a series of felonious commands by a mysterious stranger who is holding his wife hostage — because there doesn't seem to be a single ounce of thought poured into him beyond what he see. We learn, via exposition delivered by him to gun-toting computer whiz Selena Gomez, that he "did some bad things" before meeting the love of his life and deciding to put that all behind him. Then, we stop learning. We stop thinking. We start crashing into police cars and Christmas trees and power plants.
Why is Selena Gomez along for the ride? Well, the beginnings of her involvement are defensible: Hawke is carrying out his slew of vehicular crimes in a stolen car. It's her car. And she's on a rampage to get it back. But unaware of what she's getting herself into, Gomez confronts an idling Hawke with a gun, is yanked into the automobile, and forced to sit shotgun while the rest of the driver's "assignments" are carried out. But her willingness to stick by Hawke after hearing his story is ludicrous. Their immediate bickering falls closer to catty sexual tension than it does to genuine derision and fear (you know, the sort of feelings you'd have for someone who held you up or forced you into accessorizing a buffet of life-threatening crimes).
After Dark Films
The "gradual" reversal of their relationship is treated like something we should root for. But with so little meat packed into either character, the interwoven scenes of Hawke and Gomez warming up to each other and becoming a team in the quest to save the former's wife serve more than anything else as a breather from all the grotesque, impatient, deliberately unappealing scenes of city wreckage.
And as far as consolidating the mystery, the film isn't interested in that either, as evidenced by its final moments. Instead of pressing focus on the answers to whatever questions we may have, the movie's ultimate reveal is so weak, unsubstantial, and entirely disconnected to the story entirely, that it seems almost offensive to whatever semblance of a film might exist here to go out on this note. Offensive to the idea of film and story in general, as a matter of fact. But Getaway isn't concerned with these notions. Not with story, character, logic, or humanity. It just wants to show us a bunch of car crashes and explosions. So you'd think it might have at least made those look a little better.
1/5
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Warner BrosNot since 2003, when both Gigli and Daredevil were released, has Ben Affleck been the source of such hostile Interweb attacks. Lucky for him Twitter didn't exist during his year of questionable choices. Now with the announcement that he'll be playing Batman, the social-verse has had a Bennifer resurgence, paying acute attention to his acting “chops” and forgetting that just this past year his movie Argo won best picture. Yes, he's had some laughable performances (any prolific actor is bound to...except for you, Morgan Freeman) but before we continue fuelling the maw of hate, here are some reasons why he's actually quite talented behind the camera. Like Batman himself, Affleck is more interesting when he’s not seen.He’s Nailed the Boston Crime Drama
In the tensely-woven thriller The Town, which our underdog wrote and directed, Affleck drives superb performances out of his cast, especially a very dirty Blake Lively. See also Gone Baby Gone. He also acts in these movies but we postulate that Affleck gives much better performances when he directs himself, or when he’s being directed by Kevin Smith. No, Jersey Girl doesn't count.He Uses Stellar Source Material
Sure, it's easy to mock Affleck for his role in Bounce, for instance, but that story was agonizingly maudlin and derivative. When Affleck adapts stories for his own screenplays, like the Dennis Lehane novel (who also penned Mystic River) for Gone Baby Gone, Affleck begins with a strong foundation. (Ed note: The writer of this piece saw Bounce on opening night. She’s not ashamed.) He Builds Compelling Characters
When Affleck plays roles himself they’re often flat (see, Surviving Christmas, Pearl Harbor and State of Play) but in the movies he writes and directs, even the B roles shine. In Argo, we actually care about the dweeb with the glasses and his wife with the bad haircut.As we approach yet another week of Ben-bashing, we encourage you to focus on the fact that Affleck will be a producer on the next Batman, working closely with Zack Snyder on developing a completely new incarnation of the superhero, which, based on Affleck's behind-the-scenes record, bodes well for the flick. We're just hoping Batman won’t drop his R’s.
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Ben Affleck once built a Batcave entrance to a panic room in his house because of his love for the Caped Crusader. The movie star has come under fire after getting cast as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel, but his director pal Kevin Smith insists Affleck was destined to play Bruce Wayne's alter-ego.
He reveals the actor's former home featured a bookcase that opened into a panic room.
Smith says, "He brings me into the room and goes, 'Look at this'. There's an office room and this beautiful bookcase - he reached under and he clicked something and all of a sudden the bookcase opened.
"I was like, 'No! You built a f**king Batcave?' And he was like, 'No I built a Batcave entrance!' When you went in behind the bookcase it was a panic room."
And Smith is urging the comic book fanatics who have started taking aim at Affleck over his Batman casting to hold their judgment, insisting Affleck will be great as the Caped Crusader.
He adds, "This dude has loved Batman going as far back as I can remember. He only did Daredevil because he loved Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. He's like, 'They're never going to make another Batman', because this was after Batman had nipples. So he was like, 'Daredevil's cool, and Miller wrote him as well'. So he liked the character, but it was always rooted in Batman.
"He's always been into the notion. He'll honour the character. I honestly think the dude's a great actor, it makes absolute sense."
But Batman fans aren't convinced Affleck's the right choice for the role - an online petition, launched to urge filmmakers to recast the part, has attracted over 70,000 signatures.

Warner Bros; WENN
Ever since the news broke that Ben Affleck would be taking on the role of Batman in the developing Man of Steel sequel, tentatively titled Batman Vs. Superman, every nook and cranny of the Internet has become entrenched in jokes on the subject. And we're not at all above that! As such, here are 45 jokes on the topic. Pass them off as your own as you see fit...
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Who's playing Robin — Matt Damon?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Who's playing Robin — Casey Affleck?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Who's playing Robin — Robin Williams? That's confusing.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Who's directing this one — Michael Bayne?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is he really the hero Gotham deserves?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is the Commissioner going to shine a light shaped like the Red Sox logo into the sky?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is he going to knock the Joker out and then ask him how he likes them apples?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Whoever thought he could handle a super hero role is something of a casting daredevil…
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is Casey Affleck going to make a mockumentary about Bruce Wayne's return to action called I'm Still Hero?
Speaking of Casey Affleck, is there any way to work a "Casey at the Bat" pun in here somewhere? No? Okay, sorry, carry on.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman in the Man of Steel sequel? Doesn't this make Hollywoodland a little too meta?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? But didn't he already fight Two-Face in Paycheck?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? But didn't he already fight Poison Ivy in Paycheck?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Makes sense — Christian Bale took his territory in The Fighter. This is revenge.
Ben Affleck's starring in Batman Vs. Superman? Didn't he already do a superhero crossover in The Town? (Batman Vs. Hawkeye)
Ben Affleck's starring in Batman Vs. Superman? Didn't he already do a superhero crossover in He's Just Not That Into You? (Batman Vs. Black Widow)
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is Kevin Smith playing the Penguin?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is Jason Mewes playing whatever Christopher Walken's name was in Batman Returns?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is his celebrity couple nickname with Catwoman going to be Belina?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is Jennifer Garner going to be his stand-in?
No, Ben, this isn't the way to get that Oscar.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Isn't he the same age as Adam West now?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? He must have seen Matt Damon kicking ass in Elysium and said, "I'll show him! I'll show them all!"
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is the Batmobile going to be a Prius?
No, Ben, it's bats that this guy's into. Not Pats.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? I guess that makes sense. He's used to cities filled with hordes of deranged maniacs on the loose.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Argotham?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Chasing Baney?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Mallbats?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Waynedeer Games?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, is Cole Hauser playing… uh, one of the cops?
Ben Affleck's in a superhero crossover movie? Is this one going to end in shawarma-geddon? Best one yet.
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is his catchphrase gonna be "I am wicked vengeance!"
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What, were Bruce Wayne's parents coming home from an Aerosmith concert when they were killed?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is Bruce Wayne's new archenemy going to be A-Rod?
Part 1: Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is his new archenemy going to be The Mango?
Part 2, Version A: … who will, in turn, spout the following phrase: "Bruce Whone?"
Part 2, Version B: … who will, in turn, spout the following phrase: "Whoce Wayne?"
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Are he and a bunch of other guys going to sing "Leaving on the Batwing" halfway through the movie?
I'm not exactly sure how to machinate this one, but something in the vein of "To the Wonder-Mobile!"
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? Is anyone else starting to think that he's just trying to Single White Female George Clooney?
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Going All the Wayne? (Remember that movie?)
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? What are they gonna call this one — Changing Waynes?
You wanna know how I got these scars? Watching Gigli!
Ben Affleck's playing Batman? That's a great idea!
And there you have it. I apologize for the absence of any Pearl Harbor jokes, but there's only so much you can do in times like these.
More:Ben Affleck Cast as Batman in 'Man of Steel' SequelWarner Bros Announces Batman Vs. Superman Movie'Man of Steel' Producer Loves the Fan Videos
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Open Road Films
What separates a biopic from any other character piece is that a "true story" isn't necessarily expected to resolve or redeem its central characters. Unlike their fictional counterparts, real people often stay bastards throughout adulthood, submitting in the end to the same fatal flaws that carried with them through their earlier acts. It is the charge of the filmmaker, as such, to extrapolate some meaning from the heap of misanthropy that is, in essence, his or her subject. Be it the wonder, the progress, or even the horror of the featured individual's journey, something must be pinpointed as a reason to remember the biographical story in question. What Jobs does, instead of working toward a reason for us to be enamored with or at least intrigued by the fascinating character that Steve Jobs was, is bank on the simple likelihood that we already know that.
Anyone going into a Jobs biopic has, presumably, an established interest in and familiarity with the founder of Apple, who died of cancer in 2011. But that shouldn't absolve the movie of its duty to prove to its audiences that Steve Jobs is a subject matter worth their while. It doesn't absolve Ashton Kutcher of his responsibility to build a real character, as opposed to just yelling when he's in an angry scene and sobbing when he's in a sad scene. But Jobs seemes unconcerned with its own obligations toward this story. It just wants to tell it.
As such, what we have is two hours of a Steve Jobs seminar. Director Joshua Michael Stern and star Kutcher chatting about Jobs' life and career, joking about his off-putting quirks and offensive hygiene, pulling no punches in discussing his less admirable choices (like abandoning his baby daughter, and firing Apple employees for voicing disagreement). Lucky for Stern, the story Is an interesting one. Jobs, for all his flaws, is a guy you'll enjoy hearing about. But all that is accomplished by JOBS could have been earned by picking up a textbook about his life. And those who have already done so, those who know Jobs' story well enough (those who are the most likely to check out this movie, in fact), will find themselves experiencing nothing new.
Open Road Films
But an even better problem with this method is that it results in an incomplete film. Some of the better biopics that do handle flawed characters like Steve Jobs manage to pull some sense of significance from their tales, affirming that we didn't just spend two hours watching some son of a bitch get away with being just that. Even in the darkest, saddest, most unsettling stories, it is necessary to leave the viewer with something. Something learned, changed, accomplished, earned. The director cannot help if it if the Jobs of the 2000s was the same self-driven man who used people and dismissed ideas in the '70s and '80s. But he can and must do something to work around that. To turn this collection of anecdotes into a comprehensive account, which warrants an ending that is different from its beginning. That's not just cinema, it's storytelling.
And without this effort put in to conform Jobs' life to the demands of the narrative medium, nor the effort to build him into an independently interesting character by Kutcher, we're left with a moreover dull time at the theater. Steve Jobs might be an interesting guy, and his story might be worth telling — that benefit of the doubt is probably the only thing keeping this movie afloat. In company with an external fixation on the man at its center, Jobs might work just around sea level as a piece of entertainment. But what we're looking at, here, is a standalone movie, and one that hasn't put in quite enough work to pay tribute to the man in question.
2.5/5
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Summary

Ever since his emergence onto the national stage, writer-director Kevin Smith became the idol of aspiring filmmakers everywhere when his independent feature "Clerks" (1994) - made for a startlingly low sum of $27,575 - earned awards at both the Cannes and Sundance film festivals and went on to become a wild success in limited art house release. Self-referential to a fault, Smith used his films to expand his fictional universe populated with a regular cast of characters who eventually crossed over into other mediums, including comic books and an animated television series. Smith was in top form with his third feature, "Chasing Amy" (1997), though he took critical hits for later work like "Dogma" (1999) and "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001), both of which were admired by rabid fans, but panned by the public at large. Always assured with slacker characters, raunchy dialogue, "Star Wars" (1977) references and endless penis jokes, Smith did occasionally step outside his comfort zone - as he did with "Jersey Girl" (2004) - though such efforts were usually followed up with returns to more of the same, marking Smith as a champion of the Gen-X crowd, but often out of touch with wider audiences.

Education

Smith owned the comic book store Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ. The success of "Clerks" (1994) enabled him to buy back the "hawked" collection, which had helped finance its making.

Smith wrote a series of "Jay & Silent Bob" comics (based on characters from his films) and "Clerks. (The Comic Book)," as well as teaming with artist Joe Quesada for six issues of Marvel Comics' "Daredevil."

"Smith cracked up audiences during Q&A sessions after screenings, and charmed reporters. He demonstrated as much talent for dealing with media as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino. Smith's outrageous wit, warmth, self-deprecation and singular dress (wool trench coat with shorts) give him a unique and winning presence." – from The Los Angeles Times, Jan. 6, 1995

"Talk is cheap. Production values can come from unlikely sources, such as great dialogue. Special effects and amazing sets are not necessary. Get a strong script. If you're working on your first indie film, you're going to be forgiven for a lot. Don't bang your head against the wall getting it exactly right. Errors you see as blinding other people won't pick up at all." – Smith in The Hollywood Reporter, Independent Producers Special Issue, August 1995

"At the end of the day I can only do what I can do," he says. "You read a lot of reviews where people say, 'He should learn to stretch as a filmmaker.' After a dozen years now, don't they get it?

"This is what I do, this is the storyteller I am. Do I let myself off the hook by saying, 'I'm just not that talented?' Probably. But also I think it's important to know your limitations. I've kind of embraced mine. And I've had seven films' worth of practice to figure that out." – Smith to the The Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2006

In February 2010, Smith was ejected from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, CA because the airline said he didn't fit properly in a single seat. Smith raised a stink about the incident on his Twitter page, saying "I'm way fat, but I'm not there just yet" and "If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air." Southwest says its "Customer of Size" policy required travelers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat or make other arrangements.